A light story of brother/sister bonding reminiscent of the movie "The Cutting Edge" right down to "toe pick!" But although it was mentioned throughout the story, the last few chapters became all about the siblings and their mom dealing with grief about Dad's death, so that was a somewhat unexpected twist in the main theme. Other threads were not explored much after being introduced: Phoebe's attraction to the new boy took a backseat to skating rivalry; her sense that Mom didn't care as much about her as Dex was also mentioned once, then dropped until some random confrontation later; Dex's feelings of being left out by his friends after being dropped from the hockey team; and even his character trait of pulling pranks and being immature was not explored all that deeply.

What if... The Cutting Edge, only with bickering 12-year-old Korean-American siblings? Dex needs to improve his skating skills to impress his hockey coach, while Phoebe needs a replacement partner for her figure skating duos routine. Now they have to work together, but in the process they both face some lingering grief and trauma from their dad's passing. A fun family-oriented romp which delves into themes of grief, ambition, cooperation and athletic passion.

This was such a fun and compelling read, with an emotional core. I came for the ice skating/hockey sister/brother duo and ended up getting to read a really heartfelt story about grief and growing up, but also still being a child. When twins Phoebe and Dex both have something derail their skating goals, they end up competing in a pairs figure skating competition as partners, and growing close again along the way as they grow up and learn to talk about the grief of their dad passing two years before. I think Jessica Kim writes a great balance of fun and growing and heavier issues that makes the book engaging and enjoyable to read. Even though I can’t directly write to 12 year-olds anymore, I found myself really interested in Phoebe and Dex’s story and enjoyed seeing them grow. I think they get to be kids, while also acknowledging the challenges they both generally face as kids, and as Korean-Americans. This feels like a book that can be great for middle grade readers but can also appeal to older readers like it did to me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I enjoyed the author's last book, but I just couldn't get into this one. Dual POV doesn't always work and I'm not sure it did here. Both twins were kind of annoying and the overload of Gen Z slang in Dex's chapters felt forced. I did like how supportive and understanding the mother was, though.

Twins Phoebe and Dex Bae both skate; Phoebe is a figure skater who is partnered with Pete and hopes to compete in the Golden West competition, and Dex is a hockey player who wants to make the All Star team with his friends Nathan and Gabe. Their father passed away from cancer two years ago, and their mother is struggling to keep her acupunture clinic open, cook, and get the children to their activities. When Pete tears his ACL, Phoebe is devastated that she won't make the competition, since she wants to eventually make it to the US Championship competition. Dex doesn't make the team, and after talking to his friends, thinks it might be because he doesn't have expensive skates like the rest of the players. He asks his mom for the skates, and she tells him that she will buy them... if he partners with Phoebe so she can go to the Golden West competition. He reluctantly agrees, and finds figure skating more of a challenge than he imagined. The two work fairly well together, and even both befriend the new boy at their school, Jason, who has replaced Dex on the team. Phoebe has a crush on him, and is pleasantly surprised that Jason seems to have a lot in common with her. Dex finds out that Jason's father has left his family, and is able to talk to him about what it's like to have lost a father. When Phoebe and Dex are being fitted for costumes, they run into their competition, Max and Ava, who make snide remarks about their mother's Korean accent. This helps Dex to have a reason to do well, but he is also enjoying figure skating. When Dex accidentally breaks the coach's windshield, he ends up tutoring the coaches nephews at hockey while their mother is being treated for cancer. Dex also helps the boys deal with this traumatic experience, which helps him to process some of his own grief. While the Golden West competition ends with the twins placing fourth, they do get invited to participate in sectionals, which Dex agrees to do. To celebrate, their mother takes them for some Korean barbeque, at a restaurant run by Yumi Chung's mother.
Strengths: We are starting to see more involvement of families in the lives of middle grade characters, and I am so glad. Family plays a large role in the life of kids, and things don't always go smoothly. The Baes have their struggles (Mom can't cook well, the washer goes on the blink, they are all grieving in their own way), but work together. I particularly loved that Dex didn't give Phoebe a hard time about liking Jason, and even wanted to help the two of them get together, much like Ken helping his sister date his friend Steve in duJardin's Marcy Rhodes books! There was even a little friend drama with Phoebe and her former friend Chloe, and it was good to see them work that out. Lots of healthy relationships, lots of sports, and lots of leftover curry. Appreciated the character cross over with the author's other book; this helped me place it in Los Angeles.
Weaknesses: While all of the elements of the plot worked really well together, and the view of processing grief was very realistic and helpful, I have come to the conclusion that the only thing worse than grieving is reading about others who are. This will not be the reaction of all readers, but we should be mindful that it will be the reaction of some.
What I Really Think: This is a good choice for readers who liked the hockey in Irwin's Captain Skidmark or Siqqiqui's Bhai for Now or the figure skating in Chen's The Comeback or Maia and Alex Shibutani's Kudo Kids books.

All Phoebe and and her twin Dexter want is to be on the ice—Dex with a hockey stick in hand and Phoebe perfecting her pairs skills. When Dex doesn’t make the cut for his team, though, and Phoebe’s partner is injured, it looks like their dreams will have to be put on ice—unless Dex steps in to learn pairs skating, help Phoebe compete, and keeps his blades sharp while he’s at it.

This is pretty classically middle grade, and it hits a sweet spot. The twins are set up as polar opposites: Dex is the outgoing, haphazard one, as interested in goofing off as he is in actually practicing, while Phoebe is something of an anxious perfectionist. They’re both grieving a major loss, but they haven’t found a way to share that grief with each other, each instead assuming that the other is no longer grieving. It adds a nice layer of depth to the story. It’s also really nice to see their mother grow too—she’s a supportive parent from beginning to end, but by the end of the book she has a better sense of what turmoil the kids haven’t let her see.

The skill level that Dex and Phoebe show is nicely age-appropriate—they’re good at their respective sports, but neither of them is going to the Olympics anytime soon. And that’s really nice—it makes the book feel applicable to a wider audience. I do wish there hadn’t been a budding romance (YA infecting MG…it’s a common thing), but it’s at least a fairly minor part of the book. This will go over well in middle school libraries, I think.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Very cute and very well done! The siblings' realationship was front and center, as it should be, and i also loved their individual arcs and the way those arcs played off of/into their relationship arc. I also enjoyed their individual relationships to their mother and to grief/their father. And I was glad that Dex got into figure skating and committed himself without being embarrassed about it, and went through with the competition over his hockey game mostly for himself and his desire to do better than the last time (though also because it is important for Phoebe).